Emerson College

HIKI NŌ presents the last of its four-part Class of 2018 Specials, in which outstanding HIKI NŌ graduates discuss their HIKI NŌ experiences and how they feel the skills they learned from HIKI NŌ will help them in college, the workplace and life.

Part 4 features Melanie Lau, who graduated from McKinley High School on O‘ahu and is now majoring in creative writing at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts; Hannah Dumon, who graduated from Konawaena High School on Hawai‘i Island and is now majoring in digital media arts at Hawai‘i Community College – Palamanui on Hawai‘i Island; and Leanna Thesken, who graduated from Kaua‘i High School in Līhu‘e and is now majoring in media communications at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, California.

To start off the show, each graduate shows a HIKI NŌ story that they worked on and discusses what they learned from the experience of working on that particular story. Melanie presents her story “Ignition Program,” about a program at McKinley that pairs freshmen mentees with junior or senior mentors. Hannah shows “Gravitational Waves,” about a Konawaena High School alum who was part of the team that recently proved Einstein’s theory of relativity. Leanna presents her story “Food Truck Owner,” about a food truck entrepreneur who combines his love of science and cooking to create a unique culinary experience.

This is the second of four specials in which outstanding HIKI NŌ graduates from the Class of 2018 gathered at PBS Hawaiʻi to discuss their HIKI NŌ experiences and how they feel the skills they learned from HIKI NŌ will help them in college, the workplace and life.

This episode features Tyler Bright, who graduated from Waiʻanae High School in West Oʻahu and is now majoring in biology at Chaminade University in Honolulu; Ronald Crivello-Kahihikolo, who graduated from Konawaena High School on the Kona side of Hawaiʻi Island and is now majoring in journalism at Emerson College in Boston; and Marlena Lang, who graduated from Kauaʻi High School in Līhue and is now majoring in broadcast journalism at Biola University in Southern California.

To start off the show, each graduate shows a HIKI NŌ story that they worked on and discusses what they learned from the experience of working on that particular story. Tyler presents her story “Voyaging Through Time,” about how members of the Polynesian Voyaging Society are passing their knowledge to the next generation. Ronald shows “The Red-Headed Hawaiian,” about a fair-skinned, red-headed Native Hawaiian who shed his unmotivated attitude toward school when he decided he wanted to become a doctor. Marlena cites her story “The Fact of You,” a personal essay about the search for one’s own truth in this often superficial age of social media and 24/7 news coverage.

This program encores Saturday, Sept. 29 at 12:00 pm and Sunday, Sept. 30 at 3:00 pm. You can also view HIKI NŌ episodes on our website, www.pbshawaii.org/hikino.